


We live half in the daytime (we live half at night)

by saveferrris



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Multi, idk - Freeform, liam smokes so ?, that's all u need to know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-15
Updated: 2013-09-03
Packaged: 2017-12-23 14:50:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/927787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saveferrris/pseuds/saveferrris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's like that TV show Friends, except they live in a student hovel in the rough part of Manchester and there's no theme song, unless you count the crazy lady who lives next door singing Bruno Mars at three in the morning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hiii pals, this is my 10 billionth attempt at actually writing one of these. leave feedback in the comments, i do not own any of the characters in this fic and it is all purely fictional. please don't ever show any of them this. please. title taken from vcr by the xx.

Harry's alarm is set for 7:36 every morning. It gives him exactly 5 minutes to mull over suicide, 20 minutes to get up and eat, 15 minutes to get dressed and 10 minutes to walk to the bus stop in time to catch the 28 past. 

"Mmphut ght ghfcking thng p" Louis says from what sounds like the inside of his pillow, the same as usual, and Harry obliges. 

It's not that Harry hates his job. It's decent pay to look after fairly cute animals 6 hours, 4 days a week. His colleagues are nice enough that he can spend time with them out of work, which is rare, and it's interesting. It's just, not what he wants to do. When he'd started at Manchester University the year before, he'd envisioned himself with an internship at a swanky city magazine before he'd had even his third week on the journalism course. He did not envision that he'd be cleaning out litter boxes and constantly smelling of _dog piss_.

It's not that Harry hates his job. It just makes him want to kill himself a little bit.

He leans over and kisses Louis on the head, and then he remembers why he's not really that bothered about the job, or anything for that matter. Louis smells like cut grass and cinnamon and glows like the fucking sun, and Harry's lucky enough to have even the tiniest piece of him.

So he gets up and goes to the kitchen. He's greeted by a sink full of dirty dishes from the previous Chinese take away and Liam, surrounded by paperwork, a biro in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. 

"Hey Haz" Liam says, not lifting his head from the paper and taking a slightly sideways drag from his cigarette. 

"Morning Li, I thought you were giving up?" Harry questions, popping two slices of bread into the toaster and walking over to the fridge. "Also we're out of milk."

"Are you talking about smoking or marking? Because marking, yes, smoking, maybe not" Liam smirks and Harry just laughs because Liam's meant to be a _P.E_ teacher. "And I know, I'll go to the shop and get some inabit."

They sit and talk about nothing for a while, joking about how awful last night's Corrie was and making fun of Niall's new haircut. 

( _"Come on Nialler, it can't be that bad" Louis says through the door. Harry, Liam and Zayn are behind him, trying to suppress their giggling._

_"You should've seen him lads" Zayn all but whispers, "he looks like a cross between Brian Cox and Ellen Degeneres." And then suddenly they're all barking with laughter and Niall's shouting "Oi! I can hear everything you say ya shower of cunts!"_

_Niall comes out 10 minutes later and Zayn laughs so much they think they might have to call an ambulance._ ) 

Harry goes back to his room after 10 minutes. He gets dressed, black skinny jeans, dirty boots, a flannel shirt and a ratty green beanie, brushes his teeth and then leans over to Louis, who's still asleep. 

"Love you Lou, see you later, please don't kill Nick."

Louis grins. "Bye love" he murmurs, not moving an inch or even opening an eye. "I'll try, I really will. Text me, yeah?"

**

Harry gets to Matt's Mutts at 8:44, which means he doesn't start work for another quarter of an hour. When he gets in Perrie's already there and on the phone, but she promptly hangs up as soon as she sees him. "A'right chicken, you're early!"

He shrugs. "Yeah, bus didn't stop anywhere other than down the road so there wasn't any waiting around." She smiles at him, all big and pretty like, and Harry smiles back because he thinks she's one of the most lovely people ever. She grabs his hand and starts leading him to Matt's office. "Got som'ing to show you" she squeals and Harry lets himself be led. The door slowly creaks open and Harry sees Matt, sitting next to a cardboard box that's almost full to the brim with puppies. 

He doesn't start work until 10:30, too busy cuddling the new arrivals, and when he checks his phone one last time before he puts it away he has one new text from Louis.

_**Forgot to tell u this morning but I love you . See u later baby :) x** _

Harry looks at his phone. He looks at the picture he has on the inside of his locker of him, Louis, Liam, Zayn and Niall outside their flat a couple of days after he'd moved in. He looks at Perrie and Matt, who are squabbling over what colour to paint the reception area. He looks at the puppies. 

So it might not be quite what he had envisioned, but he doesn't think he'd change it for the world.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this ones a bit longer. thanks for reading paaaaaaaaaaals :)

It was 1996. Louis Tomlinson was five and in year one at Uplands primary school. He loved school, he especially loved play time because he could catch bugs and chase smelly girls with them. He could also play footie and score lots of goals more than the other boys. He'd occasionally get ahead of himself and fall over, grazing his knees, but he'd never cry. "I'm a big boy" he'd say, "crying is for babies."

If there was one thing Louis loved more than anything though, it was drama. They'd do it once a week, practicing for the school Christmas play. Louis got the lead role, of course, and all his classmates watched him in awe. They loved him. 

When Louis was 7 his mum used to cry a lot. She'd be happy in the morning and happy when she picked him up from school, but then usually some time after supper, when Lottie would be screaming and bawling and wouldn't stop, Louis' mum would start crying. It would be quiet at first, she'd just give up and lock herself in the bathroom and then it would get louder. Louis thought it was horrid. 

Eventually Louis realised that it was his duty to help as the only man of the house. He'd pick Lottie up and read her a story in the best voices he could muster. When she was asleep, he'd go and find his mum. 

Two knocks. "Mum?" No answer. He'd try again. "Mum? Are you alright?"

He'd hear shuffling and the sound of her blowing her nose. Then the door would click and his mum would peer down at him, smiling fondly. 

"Oh my sweet baby boy" she'd gush and Louis would think 'yuck', because he's not a baby. But if it made his mum happy then he didn't mind. 

When Louis was 15 he decided that he wanted to be a doctor. After being kicked off his drama course for being too disruptive, he realised that he was good at science, got all As and Bs in his tests and occasionally even A*s. He wasn't too good at physics, but he guessed that you don't need physics to be a doctor. So he was made up. 

It was also at age 15 that Louis discovered that he liked boys. "In a gay way." He told his mum, and she just crooked her eyebrow and told him that he could be whatever he wanted and she'd love him unconditionally. He heard her saying on the phone to his aunt that she hoped it was just a phase, but that didn't really bother him. 

Of course, Louis' had pent up sexual teenage angst and ended up kissing a boy at a party so everyone found out. Louis went from 'Lou' or 'Tommo', mates with everyone, to 'Louis cock-in-the-arse" or "Louis Tomlingaylord", mates with only Liam and Zayn. He didn't mind though, because Zayn was funny and good at drawing and Liam was nice and played footie with him. They were his best friends. 

When Louis, Liam and Zayn were 19 they started at Manchester University. They'd rented a small student hovel in the outskirts of Manchester where all the drug dealers and prostitutes lived. The flat had 5 bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a general living area. In their first week the three of them had been smoking on the roof when they watched a man almost get shot by his girlfriend. It was real soap opera type shit. 

Louis was signed up for a four year course in human embryology and developmental biology, Liam was training to be a P.E teacher (who smokes, drinks, and eats like a starving child, go figure) and Zayn was doing a foundation art degree. It was all fun and laughs, the three of them scraping by on the bare minimum. 

It was in the first year that Zayn had come home with Niall and subsequently he'd moved in. He was Irish, one year younger than the three boys, and had been a joy since the very moment Liam walked in on him, unexpectedly, in the shower. 

One morning, over breakfast, when Louis had been working at the University Lab's prep room for only a week and already hated the guy he was stuck with, Dick Grim-shaw (as Louis so wittily referred to him), Niall had said "Me mate from economics has got a mate doing journalism who's looking for somewhere t' live and I said he could come over later and we'd do a sorta interview thing, s'that cool with you lot?" And it was, because they had one spare room and Niall assured them he wasn't a murdering rapist. Louis was at work when they did the interview, so Liam called him and told him that the kid was called Harry and that he was a nice guy. "Just your type, actually."

When Louis got home he was met by chocolate hair and bright green eyes and slightly tanned skin and, _oh god_. 

"Love at first sight isn't a real thing" he'd whispered to himself as he skulked up to his room after a very flustered conversation with his possible-maybe soul mate.

**

That was one year and 4 months ago.

When Louis wakes up, Harry's already gone. It kinda bums him out because Harry looks so nice in the morning and Louis only gets to see him on the weekends because Harry's stupid job requires him to literally get up at the crack of dawn. It's 9:37 and Louis has exactly an hour and 8 minutes to get to Uni so he's good.

When he gets to the kitchen Liam's sitting on the breakfast bar marking something. He's wearing a blue hoodie and black sweatpants with odd socks. "I didn't know P.E involved marking?" 

"It's for my assessment. I have to mark all these GCSE essays on five ways that rugby can get you fit or something."

"Ah" Louis nods and then goes to the fridge. "We're out of milk."

Liam says nothing. Louis goes and sits on Liam's lap. "Cuddle me" 

"Oh for God's--" Liam rolls his eyes. "Lou I'm trying to work, this has to be done by this afternoon or I'm on suspension for a week"

Louis pouts. "But I'm nee-ee-ee-eedy" and Liam huffs which means that Louis' won. Liam snakes his arms round Louis' waist and Louis rests his face in the crook of Liam's neck. "I miss Harry"

Liam chuckles. It's low and throaty and makes Louis melt into Liam again. Liam's fit, Louis thinks. If he hadn't met Harry he'd definitely have tapped that all the way to China. "Maybe if you woke your lazy bum up earlier you wouldn't miss him"

Louis feigns offence. "Liam Payne" he says in this weird high-pitched voice. "I cannot believe that you would speak to anyone like that, let alone your best friend in the whole wide universe." Liam's laughing so hard his eyes are all crinkled up at the edges and it makes Louis laugh too. "Get off me you lump" Liam deadpans but he cracks at the end. Louis doesn't budge so Liam picks him up and throws him on the sofa. "My, you are strong Liam" Louis says in a pretty princess voice and Liam laughs again, before gathering his things and heading out. "M'going to the library, it'll be easier to work there rather than this fucking mad house" he says and slaps Louis' thigh on the way to the door.

All the way to China, Louis thinks.

**

When Louis gets to work. Nick's already there. Louis ignores him as he walks into the large prep room and slips on his lab coat. He busies himself by registering the main assets from where he left off yesterday, painfully aware of Nick's eyes digging into his skull.

"What do you want, Dick?" Louis says, smirking slightly at his own joke. 

"I got fucked last night" Nick drawls and it makes Louis' skin crawl. Nick is disgustingly slimy. 

"Oh really. And I care because?" Louis snips back. He has no time for Nick's games this morning, or ever for that matter. 

"Well it was who did the fucking that you might care about." Louis' knows what's coming, his shoulders tense and he locks his jaw. 

He counts backwards from ten with his eyes firmly closed. "Nicholas, Nicholas" He sighs. "Poor, desperate, Nicholas. Harry and I were happily tucked up in bed watching the apprentice last night, so I'd like you to carefully explain how exactly _my_ boyfriend fucked _you_ when I know that he was with me." Louis smiles and Nick's face drops. 

"It was worth a shot" he shrugs before walking out of the lab and down the corridor. 

Louis wants to smash test tubes and then poke them in Nick's eyes. He also wants to inject sulfuric acid up his nose and peel off his skin and tear off his arms. And then feed his remains to angry dogs and then take the mutilated corpse and bring him back to life Frankenstein-style and then throw him off a bridge into fast traffic. 

Louis tries to call Harry but there's no answer. "Harry" he whines to himself, contemplating ditching work and getting the bus to Matt's Mutts. He thinks better of it, however and just texts Harry instead. 

_**Forgot to tell u this morning but I love you . See u later baby :) x** _

Louis goes back to categorizing microscopes before he decides that he'd rather die than sit here doing asset management all day, so he texts the rest of his God awful flatmates. 

_**Niall im bored whats the derby score mate ? cant get any bloody reception here !!** _

_**I really want a cigarette I hope ur happy . U corrupted me Payne . LOVE YOU** _

_**Zaaaaaaayn r u free to get lunch ?? I cant do this anymore cockshaw is driving me nuts -.-** _

It's a good five minutes before the first reply comes back. It's Liam. 

_**go away** _

Nice. He reminds himself to put eggs in Liam's pillow later for being so rude and unsupportive. 

The second reply comes a couple of minutes after the first, this time it's Niall.

 _ **0-1 t leicester city its a fuckin joke !!!! fair play 2 leicester n all but they were playin like eejits !!!**_

Louis laughs at Niall's slang and then feels marginally better because at least he's not the only one having a bad day. How sadistic. Zayn replies a good twenty minutes later telling him to jog on and Louis feels bad again because he has kind of been scrounging off Zayn lately. One of the perks of having a shit job and even shitter coworkers. 

The last reply comes in when Louis' just about to start packing up to go home in the afternoon. 

_**Aiden found this puppy today in a sunflower field. He was really brave because he took care of his little sisters when their mum died, like caught food for them and stuff. He reminded me of you so I named him Sonny and Matt let me keep him. We have a baby Louis :D** _

Louis Tomlinson didn't think that love was real until he met Harry Styles one year and 4 months ago. Louis Tomlinson had spent his whole life aimlessly drifting until he met Harry Styles one year and 4 months ago. Louis Tomlinson ran home from work that day, the same way he did when he was five.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrry i haven't updated in ages, i've been busy(?) 
> 
> i haven't been busy i've been doing shit all, i'm just laaaaaaaazy :) anyway here's chapter three for you pals, much love x

Louis didn't think he'd have a child until he was _at least_ 26\. Yet here he is, on a Friday evening where he'd usually be getting shitfaced and having the uni life that he wanted, sitting with a lap full of small dog. 

Ok, so it's not a real child, but it's fucking treated like one. 

Louis will never forget the events that occurred when he got home from work that one Monday. Harry Liam and Zayn were sitting in the living room and as soon as Louis opened the door Harry's entire being had lit up like a firework. Louis had then had this tiny puppy thrust upon him and while it was pawing at his ratty sweater and licking his nose, Zayn and Liam had started congratulating him and Harry was positively bouncing with the stupidest grin plastered right the way across his face.

( _"Congrats mate, you must be so proud" Zayn says, clapping his hand on Louis' back supportively._

_"Yeah, he's a beauty" Liam agrees and Louis actually has to take a moment because have they all gone completely insane?_

_"You guys do realise that it's just a dog right?" Louis laughs rather forcefully and Harry whips the dog from Louis' grip, holding it up to his cheek whilst glaring at Louis._

_"How could you say that about our baby?" Harry actually sounds hurt and Louis does feel bad. "He's your son, Louis!" Harry wasn't even glaring anymore, just pouting with disappointment etched very subtly into his expression. Zayn and Liam probably couldn't see it but Louis could. He sighs inwardly. "Okay, alright, come here you useless thing" Louis smiles and Harry smiles too, handing Louis their 'child' and almost purring with happiness when Sonny (the dog) whimpers something that sounds very similar to 'Lou'._

_The four (or five if you were to include the male human dog baby) of them then proceed to watch the Ready, Steady, Cook omnibus until Niall gets home and decides that playing fetch with a metal rod indoors with a very excitable male human dog baby is a good idea, until the oven blows up and Harry cries. Liam and Zayn try to fix it but the gas stove above the oven starts leaking which makes Harry cry even more, so Louis takes him outside to calm down. It's during their time outside that the police turn up enquiring about some complaints of domestic disturbance, which only sets Harry off again. Eventually, after 7 hours of trying, Liam and Zayn manage to stop the gas leak and air out the house enough so that it's inhabitable. There's a long period of silence while the five of them tried to regain composure, before Niall eventually speaks up._

_"On the bright side, at least the police didn't find our pot!"_ )

Louis smiles at the memory. He loves his life, way, way more than he let on. He has four boys in his life that he would happily die for and has been lucky enough to find his soulmate at only 21. Even _Nick_ isn't as bad to work with anymore. 

Louis can hear Harry in the shower, singing some rendition of that song that everyone knows that the guy from X-Factor sings. Impossible, or summat. Louis picks up his son, or the male human dog baby as he likes to call him, and perches him so that it's paws are resting on his collar bones. The male human dog baby's eyes are strikingly similar to Harry's, all big and green and filled with endless wonder. "I'm so in love with your daddy, you know?" Louis barely whispers and the male human dog baby pushes his forehead into Louis' neck in agreement. 

Louis leans over and rummages around in the small gap between the bed and the wall until he finds the thing he was looking for. It's a brown leather journal, tied with string and there's a dumb smiley face scribbled in the corner. It's Harry's, where he writes about people he sees in the street or things that bother him. Harry knows that Louis reads it, but not directly. It's at 4 in the morning when Harry thinks Louis' asleep and he's huffing and frantically putting pen to paper that Harry is most vulnerable and that's why he doesn't ask Louis to read it, but Louis does and Harry knows, they just don't talk about it. 

Anyway, Louis' bored so he flicks to the last thing he read, a small poem about a homeless woman that Harry saw at the trainstation. Next to the poem is a page of new writing that Louis hasn't read yet. 

_People are so eager to tell their stories. So breathless and desperate, like they're drowning in noise. That's all it is, they want to be heard. They want people to envy them. There's constant competition to be unique. Nobody wants a mundane life, nobody wants to settle for the bare minimum. Storytelling is a universal language, one that dates back throughout history. And everybody does it, whether it's at the local shop to the person next to you in the queue or to 5000 people on a stage. Everybody has a story, too. Even if they say they don't. Life is a book full of metaphors and rhetorical questions and drop in clauses. The world illustrates itself and your story winds around, between and straight through it. It's wonderful, to completely have something that no one else can have. I guess I'm lucky enough to say I have two of those, though. I've got my story, the dark rainy nights full of fear and the bruises and broken bones, but I also have Louis, who's a story in himself. A story of a boy who's as brave as a grizzly bear and delicate as a bird. A boy who's got a lion's heart and a dolphin's brain. A boy who shines like the sun and glows like the moon. A boy who has the compassion of ten thousand civilisations that are burning away in galaxies that dwell in his ribcage. A boy who conquered everything life flung his way. A boy who deserves to be loved and loved and loved and loved and loved, forever and for all of eternity._

_I'm lucky enough to have him, completely, fully, infinitely. He's my story now._

_Back to my first point, however. People are so eager to tell their tales, so that they can be acclaimed in all their glory, but aren't the people who are reluctant to share their stories far more fascinating? H.S_

When Louis' is finished reading, he realises that Harry has been standing over him for a good five minutes. He also realises that he's crying, so he gently pushes the male human dog baby to the floor along with the journal and wipes his eyes, breathing deeply through his now snotty nose. 

"You... You don't deserve me, Haz" Louis mumbles. Harry stays very still. 

"I think" Harry starts but his words get caught in a cough. He clears his throat. "I think that you're beyond compare, Louis. You're astounding." 

Louis' heart swells to the size of a small city almost instantly. All he wants and all he's ever wanted is Harry, Harry, Harry and he pulls him down into a long, warm kiss. It's just like a cliche slow-motion movie scene, messy at first, all teeth and Harry trying to adjust his positioning, but eventually it becomes them again. Harry's huge arms are firmly wrapped around Louis' small waist, their legs twisting together as they explore each other's mouths with tiny pecks that turn into something far deeper. Harry's hands are all over Louis' sides and arms and face and neck and Louis' gripping the back of Harry's hair like he'll die if he lets go. 

When they fall asleep, hours later, Louis' head is resting against Harry's torso and Harry's lips are pressed against Louis' hairline. They're both tracing patterns across each other's skin and whispering mindless nonsense every so often. This is home. This is _their_ story.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two updates in two days?! what is this sorcery...

"Louis I'm not depressed" Zayn sighs, rubbing his hands over his face for the fifth time this lunch. 

"Do you know what maudlin is?" Louis asks. Zayn just glares. "Exactly"

Louis had decided to take his best friend to get sushi in order to make up for all the times Zayn had lent him money in the past. Also, Liam had been pestering Louis to take him out for ages ("I'm just... worried about him. He hasn't left his room in 47 hours."). Louis didn't know why Liam couldn't take him out but then again things had always been weirdly tense between the two of them and Louis didn't really want to delve too far into their problems. Or maybe he did...

"So if it's not because you're flunking out of uni, or because you couldn't afford to buy that warehouse studio thing, and it's not because Niall killed your rat or because you got into a fight with that dude who made unwanted sexual advances on Perrie and now your feng shui or whatever is all thrown off, it must be the L word" Louis all but heaves and Zayn grimaces. 

"Feng shui is with furniture" 

"I don't care." Louis shrugs "the point is, I think you totally fancy the pants off someone and it's getting you down"

"Louis--"

"I also think it's Liam."

Zayn's neck and face flush almost instantly and he seems to be looking anywhere other than at Louis. "It is Liam!" Louis claps. Zayn still says nothing. "C'mon Zayney baby"

"Piss off Louis" Zayn mutters. 

"It's healthy to have a crush on someone!" Louis claps again. "And anyway, you and Liam have so much sexual tension you could turn mother Teresa" Zayn laughs at this and Louis smirks. 

"Nah, he sees me as a mate and I see him as something entirely different" 

"You see him with his dick in your arsehole I presume" Louis says and then regrets it as a chopstick is angrily hurled at his nose. 

"Ow" Louis says, pouting and rubbing his face. "Mate, all I'm trying to say is that you need to stop being crippled with self loathing and misery. Seriously, we can all hear you wailing at 3 in the morning."

"I don't wail. It must be the lady next door"

"I'm almost fully certain it's not"

"Shut up" Zayn wisecracks. "Can we talk about something else please? I'm getting a headache"

**

Zayn needed to get back to finish his final piece that was due in at 5, so Louis was left in the middle of Manchester with not very much money and not a very clear idea of where he was. It was October, so there was a sharp breeze and very good chances of rain. Louis pulled his coat collar up so that his cheeks were better protected but he still had no gloves which meant that it felt like his fingers were about to fall off.

Louis pulls his phone out from his inside pocket and types a very brief tweet (He'd set up a twitter account a couple of weeks ago with Harry's help, which ended up with his bio being '21. Manchester uni. I love my cutie of a boyfriend very much ps this is definitely not Harry hehehe love you babe.')

 _@TheTommo: my willy is currently very small. fuck manchester weather._

He carries on walking for about 3 minutes before his phone buzzes. When he finally manages to retrieve it with numb hands and checks the screen he has two new twitter notifications. 

_@Irelandsfinest93 favourited: my willy is currently..._

And, 

_Mentioned by @liamgoddamnpayne: @TheTommo where r u ??????? come see me @ work :-)_

Louis doesn't know for the life of him where Liam works, so he decides to call him. It rings twice before Liam picks up. 

"Alright mate"

"Where do you work? I've got no clue"

"Uh it's near Chorlton park, like opposite. Down the brook."

"Oh, well I'm on Beech road now so I'll be like 20 minutes."

"In a bit then" 

Louis sighs and hangs up. He really can't be bothered to walk all that way, but he's got some match making to do. Zayn had almost got down on his knees and begged him not to say anything to Liam but Louis was almost positive that Liam fancied Zayn too and if it meant that Zayn would stop moping then of course he was willing to be a shit friend, even if it was against his better judgement. 

As he reached down to put his phone away the screen lit up for the third time.

_Mentioned by @grimmers: @TheTommo no change there then :) x x_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TO BE CONTINUED......................


End file.
